Presentation given at the Ludic Economy Symposium at Winchester School of Art, 2015

1. Beyond advergaming
design: the convergence of
branded currency, social
exchange, trust and
contextual experiences
Vanissa Wanick; Ashok Ranchhod – University of Southampton,
Winchester School of Art

3. Scenario
• Ludification of culture (Raessens, 2006; 2012)
• Convergence of branded content into a
combination of play and branded currency
• Technology empowers consumers, who
become co-creators of value and active
participants of their own process of decision-
making (Ranchhod, 1998).

4. Branded currency is an independent currency, which
evokes loyal behaviour, through the collection of
points, for example. Loyalty, then, becomes a “micro-
economy” (Kemp-Robertson, 2015).

5. How can play shape
branded currency?

6. The integration between branded currency and
play could transcend the technology that
embeds the advergame. Hence, as advertising
becomes ubiquitous, the advergame itself
becomes pervasive, expanding the presence of
the branded message into real-world contexts.

7. How would people feel invited to
play a game that is sponsored by a
brand?
What is the future of advertising in
the gameful world?

8. Three words could help to shape this answer:
Trust Social Context

9. Social currency is a
concept brought by Berger
(2013) as an exchange of
values that would make
people to achieve positive
impressions from others
by sharing specific
content.

10. Trust as a currency represents the value of
collaborative consumption, built on personal
relationships (Botsman, 2012). For example, the
search of products’ reviews could also describe
trust.

11. Context is the game space, when, how and
where people make their decisions. How does
the environment influence people’s behaviour?

12. Technologies that involve pervasive interaction
and Internet of Things could be a way to
understand this relationship.

13. The combination of those three elements could
help to situate advertising in the ludic culture,
including cues for emotional behaviour and
storytelling.

15. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKrzxd24-BA

16. http://postscapes.com/internet-of-things-award/project/real-world-
minecraft-lighting/

17. ?

18. Thank you!
• Vanissa Wanick; Ashok Ranchhod – University of Southampton,
Winchester School of Art

19. References
• http://www.lego.com/en-gb/seriousplay/
• http://midas.ioe.ac.uk/case-studies/
• http://postscapes.com/internet-of-things-
award/project/real-world-minecraft-lighting/
• http://www.servicedesigntools.org/
• http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/18651
4/storyboarding_for_games_user_.php
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26059
3933_Neuromarketing-
_A_Step_Ahead_of_Traditional_Marketing_Tools

20. References
• Ranchhod, A. (1998). Advertising into the next millennium. , 17(4).
• Raessens, J. (2006). Playful identities, or the ludification of culture. Games
and Culture, 1(1), 52-57.
• Raessens, J. (2014). The ludification of culture. Rethinking Gamification.
91-114
• Berger, J. (2013). Contagious: Why things catch on. Simon and Schuster.
• Botsman, R. (2012). The currency of the new economy is trust. TED
Talks.[Talk] Retrieved from http://www. ted.
com/talks/rachel_botsman_the_currency_of_the_new_economy_is_trust
. html.
• Kemp-Robertson, P. (2013) Bitcoin. Sweat. Tide. Meet the future of
branded currency. TED Talks.[Talk] Retrieved from
https://www.ted.com/talks/paul_kemp_robertson_bitcoin_sweat_tide_m
eet_the_future_of_branded_currency